Vicky Kalogera

Vicky Kalogera is a leading astrophysicist recognized for her pioneering work on compact objects—black holes, neutron stars, and white dwarfs—and for her leadership in gravitational-wave astrophysics.

Kalogera is the Daniel I. Linzer Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University. She co-founded and directs the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA), fostering collaborations across astrophysics, data science, and computation. Her recent leadership includes directing the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI), which develops advanced AI tools for astronomy.

Kalogera is a key member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, contributing to the first direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015. Her research bridges stellar evolution, gravitational-wave sources, and data-driven astrophysics, integrating machine learning and high-performance computing.

Her scientific achievements have been recognized with the Hans A. Bethe Prize (2016), Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics (2018), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2021). She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (2018) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2021), and a Fellow of the APS, AAAS, and AAS.